Did you ever celebrate Greek Christmas and New Year in Greece? Apart from other Christmas traditions, you will hear typical Greek carols all over the country: the “kalanta”. Greece is rich in music and depending on the geographical regions, there are different Christmas and New Year songs, using different instruments and rhythms.
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When you visit Athens , not only you can explore the capital of Greece, but at the same time you can also make several one-day excursions to nearby coastal villages, beaches and archaeological sites within the prefecture of Attica. One of the trips we believe is really worth it to add to your “list”, is to visit the “temple of Poseidon” in Sounion, at about 60 km from centre Athens. You can combine it with a swim in the clear waters of the Aegean sea or a nice dinner/lunch in one of the fish taverns nearby.
A visit to Athens is never complete without a visit to the Acropolis Museum, which first opened its doors in 2009. For all those years, it has been one of the major cultural sightseeing spots of the Greek capital.
The Greek “Happy Fools’ Day” on April 1st is traditionally established as the day that we fool the others or tell jokes. On April 1st, you can also use the Greek wish “Καλή Πρωταπριλιά !” (Kali protaprilia) = Happy Fools’ Day!
The only difference is that in Greek you actually say “Happy First of April”!
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The town of Nafplion is a beautiful Venetian town with ancient Greek roots and a lot of history.
It is located in the Peloponnese, at 2 hours driving from Athens.
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Playing Tavli or Backgammon is a very popular Greek habit. Almost every Greek has enjoyed a sunny morning with cold coffee (preferably a frappe) and a round of “Portes” or a summer afternoon with a glass of ouzo accompanied by a “meze” and a round of “Plakoto”.
Το τάβλι είναι μία ιδιαίτερα δημοφιλής συνήθεια των Ελλήνων. Σχεδόν όλοι έχουν απολαύσει ένα ηλιόλουστο πρωινό με έναν κρύο καφέ (κατά προτίμηση φραπέ) και μία παρτίδα «πόρτες» ή ένα καλοκαιρινό απόγευμα με ουζάκι συνοδευόμενο με μεζέ και ένα γύρο «πλακωτό».
It is nearly Christmas and preparations have begun. We decorate our house, and we buy or make sweets. During the Christmas Holiday Season, there are two kinds of cookies you can buy or taste all over Greece: melomakarona and kourabiedes. Maybe you would like to bake those delicious cookies yourself, and get into a Greek Christmas mood?
Below you will find our recipe for baking “kourabiedes”.
The Greek movie “Notias” (Greek for “southern wind”) , by Tassos Boulmetis, was released in 2016. A beautiful movie, filmed mostly in “Athens of the sixties” and for sure liked by our students learning Greek! Below two trailers of the movie with Greek dialogues. We translated the dialogues for you in English, so you can improve your Greek listening skills, while also reading the Greek text or English translation.
The advents calendar for Greek Easter, is made by Kiria Sarakosti! A calendar counting down 7 weeks until Easter. It is not easy to translate the Greek “Kiria Sarakosti”, but we propose to call her “Lady-Lent” in English! It is an old tradition in Greece and a way to count the weeks from Clean Monday (the end of carnival) until Easter.
Click on the photo above to also see her 7 legs!
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On the first day of the New Year, in many Greek homes, the new year is welcomed by opening a pomegranate for good luck. It is also common to receive a pomegranate (‘ρόδι’, made of metal, glass or other materials) as a gift in Greece, to bring good luck ( ‘γούρι”) for the new year.
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